Neno Council in vaccination campaign

Neno District Council has embarked on a rabies vaccination campaign to vaccinate dogs and cats in the district to prevent rabies.

The exercise comes after the district has registered 50 cases of pet bites in the past five months.

Speaking on Tuesday during the launch of the campaign at the council’s premises, Neno district commissioner Rosemary Nawasha said the campaign seeks to protect people because  rabies is a deadly disease.

“Rabies is a deadly disease if a victim does not get treatment in time. We want to reduce the chances of rabies spreading through rabid dog bites,” she said.

Nawasha appealed to well-wishers to help the district with resources either in cash or kind to vaccinate all targeted pets.

She warned people who will not vaccinate their pets that if they contract rabies and bite people, they will be prosecuted as there is a chance now for vaccination.

Neno district principal agriculture officer Whytone Fole said the district has 19 493 pets (13 119 dogs and 6 374 cats) which pose a risk to people.

He said currently the council has resources to reach 2 000 pets and will target hot spots, expressing hope that they will eventually vaccinate all the pets in the district.

“It is cheaper to vaccinate pets compared to treating patients as it costs more than K40 000 to treat a person,” said Fole.

A community member Austin Ndalama from Neno Boma encouraged his fellow pet owners to take advantage of the exercise to vaccinate their pets.